Have you ever finished a drawing and felt it needed a little extra “wow”?

Filters in Clip Studio Paint’s Simple Mode can do just that — and you don’t need to be a tech expert to use them!

Video Tip:

🎨 What Are Filters?

Filters and effects can instantly change the look of your artwork, like blur, glow, noise, distortion and more!

They can make your image softer, sharper, vintage, or magical depending on how you use them.

In Simple Mode, filters are found in the Tool Palette → Filters / Effects section.

You can choose to apply them to your current layer or all layers (merged).

Long-press the preview button to compare before and after!

💡Tip: Filters only work on raster layers, so convert vector layers before applying.

Now let’s explore ideas on how to use filters effectively.

🪄 Idea 1: Add Subtle Glow To Your Art

This is a very easy effect that you can apply using only 2 layers.

I’ll apply this using my butterflies layer.

1. Create the art you want to glow, in my case its these yellow butterflies.

2. Duplicate the layer.

3. Move the duplicate layer below the original layer.

4. Go to Effects and click Apply to current layer.

Now we’ll add a Guassian Blur effect. This effect softens edges by averaging pixel colors in a radius, creating a dreamy haze that mimics light diffusion or depth-of-field in photos. It's like smudging your art with an invisible finger, perfect for hiding rough lines or adding atmosphere without losing detail. (Pro tip: Overdo it, and your art turns to mush; start low on mobiles where touch precision shines.)

1. Select the Gaussian Blur effect and set the Blur Radius to 140-170. Then hit Ok.

2. On the original layer, click the filter and select Apply to current layer.

Now we’ll add a Sepia filter to the original layer. Sepia converts colors to earthy browns (like old photos), warming neutrals while preserving highlights. Intensity (0-100%) controls the tint strength, too high mutes the vibrancy.

1. Apply the Sepia filter.

2. On the same layer, add some bling using a sparkle or spray brush around the butterflies and you’re done.

You can make it more prominent by editing the blur and changing the blending more of the original layer to Glow dodge.

🌫️ Idea 2: Add an Eerie or Timeless Mood with Monotone

To create this effect, we start with a finished piece, i drew this specifically because i got inspired from pinterest and wanted to make it using filters, go ahead and choose your piece and follow along.

For this effect we will be using the Monotone filter. This filter strips colors to a single hue (or grayscale), unifying tones for mood—think film noir shadows or selective pops (e.g., red for danger). It remaps your RGB values to the chosen color, boosting contrast in low-light scenes.

Tip: Avoid on busy art; it amplifies flaws, so clean layers first.

You need to have your art piece in one layer for this effect, i suggest you create a duplicate before merging it all together.

1. Open your art piece (use a finished piece, I forgot to take a picture of my finished art, dont be like me (T—T) )

2. Select the part you want to keep colored, in my case it’s the cards showing parts of her body.

3. Invert Selection to select everything but the parts you want colored

4. Go to filters and choose to apply to current layer.

5. Choose the monotone filter and hit ok.

6. Optional - You can add props like butterflies sparkles or dust, its up to you!

Here’s the timelapse for this piece =D

Trigger Warning! (Some Blood)

We can achieve different styles using this technique.

🌅 Idea 3: Glass Effect

For this special effect, we will switch between simple and studio mode.

1. Open your art of choice or create a new piece. In my case i drew a couple hands, as i wanted to design a simple poster.

2. Add a background to your art, i drew random colored rectangles and blurred them slightly using the Motion Blur Effect with a vertical direction.

Here’s the BG image i used, feel free to use it for practice.

3. Draw window opening, choose a shape you’re comfortable with and add it with a white outline where you don’t want the effect to be.

 

4. Choose a cyan-blueish color and fill in the space you want to apply the mirror effect on. In my case it was the entire canvas except where the hands are reaching (part of the arms is also behind the mirror)

Now to apply the glassy effect we will be using Noise Color effect. This sprinkles RGB grains (like film static) to break flatness, adding organic grit, great for "frosted glass" realism.

Mode (Gray vs. Color) decides if it's neutral or tinted; intensity scales speck size. Tip: 15-20% max, or it turns snowy.

1. Go to Effects and choose Noise Color and choose a strength of around 60%. Apply it on the filled layer.

2. Lower the opacity of this layer slightly, around 55% - 75%.

3. Duplicate this layer and switch to Studio mode.

Now we will apply a different effect to give glass particles to the previous glass effect. For this we’ll use Crystalize Effect. This basically mosaics pixels into crystal-like blocks, distorting shapes for a faceted, watery look (think shattered ice).

Block size controls chunkiness, small for fine glass, large for bold prisms.

1. On this layer, go to Filter - Effect - Crystalize, test out the parameters and choose ones to your liking then click Ok. In my case i chose slightly big and random shapes.

2. Lower the opacity of this layer to around 40% and set it’s blending mode to Divide.

3. Now select the background layer we created earlier and duplicate it. Bring it on top of the previous layer.

4. Back to Studio Mode, apply the Crystalize filter on this layer, keep same parameters or change them.

5. Lower the opacity of this layer to around 40% and set its blending mode to Brightness.

6. This already achieved our look!

7. Optional - You can add more highlights and darker shadows where you see fit.

Use white or very bright blue to add the lights, i use the selection tool to select where the light is coming from and lightly dab it using an airbrush. Similarly, without selection though, I lightly dab the shadows on the opposite direction.

I lower the opacity of this layer to around 75% and set its mode to Color Burn.

8. You can now finish up by adding some text to finish the design.

Using this technique, we can do different beautiful designs.

☁️ Idea 4: Reuse Old Art - Cool Poster with the Ripple Filter

I had this idea while looking on Pinterest for cool designs, and i know i can do this easily on photoshop but i wanted to show you how you can use Clip Studio Paint to get the same results (if not better).

First, find an old art you want to experiment with.

1. Open your art on CSP, It can be an image file or .csp, doesn’t matter. I choose this old piece of mine.

2. Decide on the part you want to cover and add a white rectangle as well as a shadow below it. I chose to cover the left side so i placed my rectangle there.

Create the rectangle of the cover on a separate layer than that of the shadow.

3. Apply a Gaussian Blur to the shadow rectangle. I moved the shadows a bit to the left to make them appear smoother.

4. Decide on your text. I added LANTERN vertically by jumping the line at each character. I then added Art By ScriblingArt to the side and made it vertically using the text tool.

5. I then Rasterize both texts simply by creating a raster layer below them and merging them on it. I do this because i need to be able to select the text for my next step.

6. Now i create a selection from the text layer and delete the selected area from my cover layer with a hard brush and from the shadows layer with a soft brush so as not to erase it all. Then i simply hide the text layer.

For this filter we try a new effect the Ripple effect. This warps pixels in wave patterns, like heat haze or water ripples, perfect for reviving stale art by adding motion/energy. Amplitude (wave height) and wavelength (spacing) dial the intensity.

1. Duplicate the artwork layer, and on this new layer go to Filter - Distort - Ripple…

Choose the parameters to your liking

Tip: Low values (10-20%) for subtle revival; merge to new layer first to non-destructively experiment.

2. Now play with the blending modes of this layer, for me i ended up choosing multiply, but other looks were good as well.

And we’re done! Experiment until you find the effect you like most.

Pro Tip: Combine with Gaussian Blur post-ripple for smeared "echo" effects—your sketch graveyard becomes a stormy sea.

🎆 Idea 5: Turn a Photo into Art

You can take an image you took into art using filters, you can then use the image for your backgrounds or to make a new art piece. Let me guide you through this process with these easy steps.

1. Import your photo into clip studio. I will be using this photo i took in Bristol-Uk for this example, feel free to use it for practice.

2. To make this photo into a drawing, we need to first use the Artistic Color Only effect.

To access the properties, click on the effect and a list of parameters show up. Reduce the Number of colors to around 7, or until the photo becomes somewhat like a painting. Apply the filter by clickin OK.

3. Duplicate this layer and switch to Studio Mode, go to Filter - Effect - Artistic, Use the following settings if you’re using my image, or play around with them if you’re using your own photo.

What Artistic Filters Do: Transforms photos/layers into hand-drawn vibes by extracting lines (contrast-based) and recoloring (blending/sharpening). It processes lines and colors separately—lines from edges, colors via posterization (fewer hues = bolder art).

Tip: Duplicate for "lines only" (top layer) vs. "colors only" (bottom); low color count creates manga banding but watch saturation spikes on brights.

4. Erase the lines from the sky (from the duplicate layer, while keeping the original layer visible), we want the sky to remain smooth.

5. Now select the building and apply a cool filter on them. I also adjusted the brightness, contrast and other settings to make it darker.

6. Now we have a ready to use image, i went ahead and added a random character, some banners, messed around with the light coming from the sky and some random props here and there. This is completely up to you how you interpret the image and your imagination, so have fun with this.

⭐ Idea 6: Add Transparency to Your Art

Adding transparency to your art is another fun way in using filters alongside with correction layers. Let me show you how to apply this effect.

1. Open your art piece in a new canva.

2. Duplicate the layer and apply a Monotone filter, hide the first layer so you see what you’re doing.

3. Switching on to studio mode, go to Layer - New Correction Layer - Level correction, and adjust it as you see.

What Level Correction Does: Remaps brightness/contrast via sliders, input (source tones) stretches shadows/mids/highlights, output (result) clips extremes.

It's your "exposure fix," darkening darks or popping lights without color shifts.

Play around with the levels to make the shadows darker and the highlights lighter.

 

4. Change the layer’s blending mode to Screen.

5. Reactivate the first layer and cut the upper portion of it using the lasso tool.

6. Draw the missing part of the chocolate (the inside) on a new layer below the first layer.

7. Optional - You can add back the upper part of the original art to emphasize the transparency.

If you feel like the colors are too bright or saturated, go back to your levels and adjust them slightly to the right.

And that’s it! Apply this trick on your art whenever you want to make a specific part transparent.

🖋️ Conclusion

Filters are versatile, you can use them for multiple purposes. If you’re having an art block or just dont feel like drawing something new, grab an old art piece and add some filters and experiment. This will allow you to get out of that art block and learn more about Clip Studio all while creating a new artwork for your portfolio!

Have fun creating and stay positive! ¬(=w=)¬

PS: If you have any questions or concerns, let me know in the comments below! I’ll try my best to answer your questions and make new tips if needed!